Jamie Carragher

Carra: We've Sent Out A Message

Jamie Carragher believes Sunday's comprehensive victory over Aston Villa has sent out a warning to Liverpool's title rivals.

The Anfield vice-captain feels the Reds are hitting top form at the right time after Rafa Benitez's side capitalised Manchester United's defeat at Fulham by crushing the Midlanders 5-0.

"This will have sent a message out to United and Chelsea," said Carragher. "Let's not kid ourselves, they'd have been watching the game.

"When you play Real Madrid and Manchester United and score so many goals, you know in the back of your mind that can't happen every week so to get five against Villa was a magnificent achievement.

"If we'd have dropped points against Villa, United's defeat at Fulham wouldn't have made that much of a difference but we've capitalised on it.

"Now United will realise they are in a fight for the league."

The win against Villa took Liverpool to within one point of leaders United at the top of the table and Carragher insists Liverpool have the mental toughness to deal with the pressures of the title race.

"We are maturing and getting used to the demands of fighting for a title," he added.

"We were there earlier in the season but, having not been in that position before, maybe we didn't know how to deal with it.

"We've probably found it difficult a few times this season to cope with that.

"We're well aware that the title is in Manchester United's hands, but we're trying to put them under as much pressure as possible."

JAMIE CARRAGHER TALKS TO THE INDEPENDENT

Ahead of this afternoon's clash at Fulham, Jamie Carragher has been speaking to Sam Wallace from The Independent. Read this fascinating interview in full here.
He has been resting over the last 13 days, he even ventured down to London to take in a couple of West End shows with his wife last week but this afternoon at 5.30pm, the hard work starts again.

Eight Premier League games left. The home straight. And the chase is on for Liverpool to win the final medal missing from Jamie Carragher's glittering collection.

When Carragher laces up his all-black boots at Craven Cottage this afternoon – he does not believe defenders should wear coloured boots – he will do so knowing that Liverpool have never been closer. Not since 1997 when James Lee Duncan Carragher first broke into Roy Evans' team have they been so close to ending that aching wait for a first title since 1990. One point and one game in hand separates them from leaders Manchester United; beat Fulham and they will be top tonight.

There is no better man to take the temperature of Liverpool's remarkable late burst in the title race than Carragher, who has played every minute of every league game bar one this season. If Steven Gerrard is the heart of Liverpool football club, so the old wisdom goes, then Carragher is its soul. Albeit a restless soul, a man who admits that football took over his life to the extent that he once sought help from Steve McClaren's England team psychologist. But it is an obsession that has turned him into one of the most accomplished defenders in the world and it might yet bag him a Premier League medal.

In his excellent autobiography Carra he admits that he thinks about winning the title "half a dozen times in an afternoon" so the obvious first question is how the hell has he managed to stay calm over the international break after Liverpool took six points out of United's lead last month? "It's hard dealing with your mindset because you don't want to get too excited but you think about it a lot," Carragher says. "You think about it yourself and you realise the impact on the people around you.

"That's why me and Stevie ... we're not just doing it for ourselves. All these people in the city want the title so badly but they, well, they can't do that much about it. So you want to do it for other people. How can I explain? It's like this: you want your kids to have more than you, better than you. You'd give everything for them, and that's the way it feels sometimes with the fans and the League title. It's not really for you, you just want to give them something. You are desperate because you know how much people want to win.

"If it happens it happens. I speak to Stevie about it and probably we talk about it too much and that brings pressure and a bit of anxiety. We are local lads and we will still be around here when we have finished playing. If we don't win it we will still have had decent careers that we can look back on. I read the other day that George Best never won the FA Cup. George Best was a much better player than I am but I have won two FA Cups. Look at the players who haven't won the Champions League. Ronaldo – and I mean the Brazilian Ronaldo – he was, he is, a fabulous player. If it doesn't happen we just have to accept it. We have a few more years to do it but it is something we would love to tick off. I am trying to get myself round to thinking like that so it will soften the blow [if Liverpool don't win the title]. When you are that type, when you are competitive you don't look at what you have done, you look at what you haven't done. There are a lot of people like that, it's probably what gets you to the top."

Carragher is bursting with ideas and theories about the game, a deep thinker on football who has turned over every permutation, every argument in his own head before you even get there. Will it be any consolation to Liverpool, if they finish runners-up, that they have beaten United twice this season? "No, it's nice to beat them but that's a load of rubbish," he says. "If they win the League they are the best team."

And the mind games between the two managers? "To be honest, I love it. I think it's brilliant. I think most Liverpool fans would respect him [Alex Ferguson], you don't have to like him but you have to respect him. As for the stuff between the managers, I think it's hilarious and I do watch it and I do read it and I try to put myself in their position and think, 'What would I say back if they said that?' It's great entertainment. Maybe it does have an effect, who knows?

"Ferguson said something before we played Real Madrid and I thought it was clever because it was obvious why he was saying it. He said, 'Real Madrid have no chance of winning the European Cup', so obviously he wanted Real Madrid to try that little bit harder against us. Maybe we should say before they play Porto, 'Manchester United are already in the final', so that might push Porto on a bit more."

As for Rafael Benitez's legions of foreign signings, what effect do the exchanges between the two managers have on them? "Half of them probably can't even read the paper. They won't be too bothered."

In four days' time, Carragher will be walking out at Anfield for part five of the Liverpool v Chelsea odyssey in the Champions League. Naturally he played every minute of all eight ties against Chelsea over the previous four seasons and in his autobiography he was scathing about Chelsea's conduct before the 2005 semi-final. He cited the "historical and philosophical differences" between the two clubs and the "cocky interviews" and "idle boasts" of the Chelsea players. It was, in his eyes, "working-class fighters taking on the middle-class toffs". Four years on and Carragher has mellowed slightly. "Then [2005] it was the situation with Stevie, he is our best player, and they just wanted to take him," he says. "That's what upset Liverpool people. I think they have changed it around a bit more now [at Chelsea]."

Chelsea are certainly not as rich as they were in 2005? "Maybe that is the difference. They are trying to make a few friends with the football they are trying to play. We are not knocking what they have achieved. That team is still there, isn't it? They have the same players who got to the Champions League final. There is great respect for what they have achieved because we'd like to win a couple of League titles."

Carragher has admitted that the Liverpool team that won the Champions League in 2005 was not, despite their success, the best team in Europe at the time. Instead that trophy was about the incredible story of that season and their chaotic journey to Istanbul and, ultimately the improbable victory over Milan.

"It sounds strange but even when we lost in 2007 it felt like the manager had by then changed things around and brought his own players in and built a team," he says. "When we won in 2005 it was like a film, like an unbelievable story.

"We all know that team wasn't great and I was in it so I am criticising myself as well. We weren't the best team in Europe. That's probably what made it even better. It was like a film where the underdog comes through. In 2007 it was different, in the group we finished above Chelsea. In 2005 we needed a last-minute goal from Stevie [against Olympiakos] to get us through."

So if Liverpool win the Champions League this year do they have a more serious claim to be the best team in Europe? "It's difficult to say that is the best team in Europe because on any given day the top eight could probably beat each other. We are probably one of the best five or six teams in Europe and one of those who can win it. I always think it is hard to say that unless you win your domestic league that season, because even if you win the European Cup, someone has finished above you."

Carragher has two years left on his contract, he has been an ever-present in the side this season yet he admits he can never relax. He flinches when I mention the one relatively insignificant game he has missed this season – the Carling Cup defeat to Spurs – and when it is pointed out that he has managed a remarkable run in the team he answers briskly, "I haven't missed a single day's training either."

"I have that terror of someone taking my place," he says. "I'm terrified of missing one game. At the start of the season I thought, 'I've got a fight on my hands to keep my place'. [Daniel] Agger had come back from injury, [Martin] Skrtel had done well. To be honest I'm pretty proud of that record and playing every game. At the start of the season when I come back it's not like I think: 'I'll be playing in that first game'. I'm thinking, 'I don't know I'm in the team'. I know people might find that strange.

"I know how I'm seen as a player, I'm seen as 'wholehearted'. 'He'll put his foot in', and stuff like that. I will do but it's not the real picture. I played for Liverpool aged 18, how many players do that? I have never been a [regular] sub for Liverpool. Since the age of 20 I have played every week for Liverpool. People say sometimes, 'Oh, he's versatile'. There have been players here who filled in for people. I never filled in for people. I played 50 games every season. It might be different positions but when everyone was fit I still played."

Point taken. He is 31 years old now and it is still inconceivable to imagine a Liverpool team without No 23 directing things at the back. The international break has given him time to work on his Uefa "B" licence coaching qualification at the Liverpool Academy even though he is not certain he will move into management.

He looks at those top managers "with the bags under their eyes", he thinks about having to move his two children to a new school in another part of the country and wonders whether he could justify it. For now there is one priority.

"This is the best Liverpool team [Carragher has played in] but it doesn't matter. It's about what you win," he says. "If we win nothing then no one will remember this team even though we are probably 10 times better than the team that won the Champions League. When we won the treble in 2001, the team the year later was even better but we never won anything. It's all about what you win and the better your team is the more chance you have of winning, obviously. But people remember teams that win."

Hodgson has other ideas...

Liverpool's season may be developing considerable momentum, but they will not be taking victory for granted at Craven Cottage today following Fulham's defeat of Manchester United prior to the international break. Roy Hodgson (right) expects to field the same XI that defeated the champions 2-0 despite Mark Schwarzer and Clint Dempsey having only returned yesterday from matches in Sydney and Nashville respectively.

He admitted the international break has made preparation difficult: "Liverpool have also had players away but unlike ours coming off back-to-back internationals, they are used to a run of big games because of their Champions League experience. I can only hope the memory of how my players felt after beating United will motivate them to reproduce that. Liverpool are the in-form side, their confidence must be enormously high after recent results. But those can also inspire our players to perform against them."

My Other Life

I've been down to London at the weekend to see the shows 'Billy Elliot' and 'Chicago' (below). Billy Elliot was a lot better. It's something different. Footballers used to go for a pint but I've got a wife and you try to do more things together. The musicals were all right actually, I didn't think I'd be the type to like them. It is good to find something to take your mind off football. But I still found time to watch the England games.

Actor Liam Neeson gives his children Michael and Daniel a day to remember posing for a photograph with Jamie Carragher.

thanks Bethany!

CARRA: LEAGUE DOUBLE COULD GIVE US EDGE

Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool's league double over Chelsea could give them a psychological edge ahead of yet another meeting in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The Reds defender admits he was somewhat frustrated to be drawn against the Londoners for the fifth straight year but insists Rafael Benitez's men will go into the clash confident of progressing to the last four.

"We've got a great record against Chelsea this season and if we play the way we have done against them in the two league matches then we know we can go through," he told Liverpoolfc.tv.

"The fact we did the double against them might give us that extra confidence. I'm sure if they'd beaten us twice we'd have gone into it with a bit more trepidation, but the fact we won twice will give us a bit of a boost."

The 31-year-old concedes that he would liked to have gone head-to-head with Bayern Munich rather than face another meeting with the Blues.

He feels Europe should be about taking on sides from across the continent and is still hopeful both the German giants and Liverpool will progress so he can realise his dream of playing at the Allianz Arena.

"My initial reaction was that I didn't really want us to get another English team because Europe is about playing European teams," he said.

"The Chelsea lads probably felt the same. I suppose we are sick of the sight of each other really! But we both know what kind of games they will be and we all realise it will be tough.

"I was desperate for us to get Bayern Munich because I wanted to play in their new ground. I like to play in different stadiums across Europe, but if we beat Chelsea we could still draw them in the semi-final."

Last season Chelsea knocked Liverpool out of the competition in the semi-finals. Asked if revenge would act as any form of motivation Carragher said: "Not really. This is a new season and we are probably playing better than we did last year.

"It was unfortunate with John Arne Riise's own goal because if it hadn't gone in, I think we would probably have gone through. That's how close the games are."

liverpoolfc

thank you bethany !

thanks girls

Chelsea v Liverpool - UEFA Champions League 14 Apr 2009

aaww he id it aswell?

Thanks For That x

thanks

thanks

SKY SPORTS MAGAZINE - EXCLUSIVE

OCTOBER 2009

FOES REUNITED

"He deserves more respect"

Jamie Carragher on Michael Owen and Liverpool v Manchester United

Liverpool v Manchester United is a rivalry unlike any other. But as Jamie Carragher says, when the teams meet this month the story will have a new twist

BACK in 2004, Sir Alex Ferguson did an interview with The Sunday Times in which he was fulsome in his praise of Steven Gerrard.

Inevitably it begged the question of whether Ferguson would want to buy the midfielder, likening a possible deal to the one that saw Luis Figo controversially move from Barcelona to Real Madrid. Ferguson replied: "I think there's a matter of 1,000 miles between Barcelona and Madrid. The 35 miles between Liverpool and Manchester make it a bit more complicated."

When Rafael Benitez tried to sign Gabriel Heinze from United in 2007 Ferguson stood firm. He was willing to let Heinze go but not to Liverpool. The Argentinian defender moved to Real Madrid instead. No player has moved directly from Liverpool to United or vise-versa since 1964 when Phil Chisnall moved from Old Trafford to Anfield for £25,000. It's a fact that serves to neatly sum up the rivalry.

And it's against this backdrop that one of Liverpool's greatest forwards, Michael Owen, will arrive at Anfield this month as a Manchester United player, (albeit via Real Madrid and Newcastle), for what could be a season-defining game.

Irrespective of whether Owen starts the match or not, his mere presence at the game as a United player adds a brilliant subplot to the story. Of greater significance to the history of these clubs is that they have both won the League 18 times. Indeed, United fans never miss an opportunity to remind Liverpool how long it's been since they've won it - back in 1990 to be precise.

Until last year, The Kop could at least hit back with the fact they've won more titles. Now United have levelled the score. The sense of anticipation around this match is heightened by the fact that Liverpool finished second last year in a campaign which included going to Old Trafford and winning 4-1.

"For our fans, beating United is always vital", says Liverpool's Jamie Carragher, a veteran of 26 league and cup clashes between the sides. " There's a rivalry there that means beating the other is big, whatever the league situation. Last season it was even bigger because the wins - and especially the one at Old Trafford - put us firmly in the title race. We were struggling before we went to United but our win there gave us the impetus to get right back in the thick of things. It triggered what was an exciting finale for everyone."

Of that 4-1 win he adds: "It was a good result but in the back of your mind you respect the fact that they were still top of the league and still in the driving seat. We weren't going to go off screaming and shouting and getting carried away. The other thing is we're Liverpool Football Club. We're expected to win games. Our fans expect to win games; we expect to win games, even at Old Trafford. It was great and I'm sure the fans revelled in it that afternoon, but as players you have to keep your emotions in check. We'd have looked stupid going wild in the dressing room with them still ahead of us. It was three big points but they didn't win us anything."

Two images stand out from that match. One was the shot of Edwin Van Der Sar looking on helplessly as the ball looped over his head for Liverpool's fourth goal. The other was Nemanja Vidic, who up until that match had been many people's idea of Player of the Year, left for dead by Fernando Torres.

"Torres was brilliant that day and gave Vidic the run around, something no one else had managed all season. Hopefully when the game at Anfield comes around, Vidic and his team mates will have that bit of doubt in their minds and Nando will be that bit more confident. The big teams are so closely matched that it can come down to little details like that."

While United have Torres to think about, Carragher may have to mark Owen - the players have been close friends since their teens. Was he surprised by the move to Manchester United?

"I was a bit. Not because I ever doubt Michael's ability but it was just so out of the blue. it happened so quickly. One minute you're wondering where he'll end up and the next he's at Old Trafford. When I've played against him he's been kept fairly quiet but - and no disrespect to Newcastle - he wasn't getting the service and it'll be a harder experience when he's in United's line-up."

Views are divided among liverpool's supporters towards Owen. Despite his achievements at the club some won't forgive him for leaving just at the moment when Rafael Benitez joined and may let their feelings be known about him playing for United.

"Our fans are usually brilliant with former players but he might get a cool reception. That won't bother him though. You can understand the fans' point of view. He used to play for us and now he's at the big rivals so of course there will be some reaction. That's football and Michael will know that. At the same time, Michael's got his career to think about. He wants to get his name back up there, he wants to play Champions League football and get into the World Cup squad. The move gives him that opportunity. It will have upset some fans but that's football. He's a mate of mine so I suppose I have to wish him well, but only to a certain extent! His achievements have been forgotten very quickly. This is a kid who went to a World Cup and set it alight. He scored one of the great World Cup goals, not against some Mickey Mouse nation either, against Argentina! What an impact at only 18. He's won the European Footballer of the Year. How many British players can say that? If he never kicks a football again, he's done more than most and I think he's due a bit more respect. Michael has a very strong character so stick doesn't bother him."

Another feature of this rivalry last year was the verbal exchanges between Benitez and Ferguson but Carragher is keen to stress that such matters have no bearing on what happens on the pitch.

"It doesn't affect football matches. it keeps everyone entertained and fills sports pages so I guess everyone's happy. There's a lot of hype around the game these days and the stuff that goes on between these guys fuels that. It's not a problem, we're aware that quotes are twisted and things are juiced up."

Indeed, it's hard to see such trivialities getting to Carragher. He had to bounce back from scoring two own goals against United at Anfield in 1999. But he emerged from the experience a stronger player. If anyone can handle the pressure of this match and of trying to win the title, Carragher is that man.

"We're used to it at Liverpool and personally I don't let it get to me. We know we're a strong set of players and know that we need to win games of football. Hopefully winning those games will take us to the title."

LIVE ON SKY SPORTS: LIVERPOOL V MAN UTD:
SUNDAY 25 OCTOBER, 1PM SS1/SSHD1